A Northumberland man who has been repeatedly jailed for breaching court orders by contacting his ex has been given a chance to stay way from her.
Ufuk Menderes had been made subject of a restraining order and a non-molestation order, which prohibited him from going to his former partner's address or making contact with her. A court heard that the 43-year-old had served prison terms in the past for ignoring those orders, the most recent of which was a six month sentence handed down in December last year.
However, the dad-of-two once again showed he'd failed to learn his lesson when he decided to ring his former partner and make reference to her on Facebook. The foolish moves landed Menderes, of Saint Andrews Road, in Berwick, back in the dock in custody this week, where he pleaded guilty to two counts of breaching a restraining order.
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James Long, prosecuting at South East Northumberland Magistrates' Court, said the offences happened on May 29 this year. Mr Long continued: "Given his previous breaches of the order, you will have to decide whether it's a case that should be kept here for sentence or not.
"The complainant is the defendant's former partner. She's protected by a restraining order. They have been apart for two-and-a-half years. She's moved on and has a new partner. She and the defendant have two children together. The relevant part of the restraining order is he's not allowed to contact her.
"These are events from Monday this week when, at 6pm, she received a phone call, initially from an unknown number, but, when she answered, she recognised the voice to be the defendant's. He said "How long is it going to be?". She responded by saying "Why are you calling me, you're not allowed?". He responded with "Are you paying us off or going to court?". She said "Court" and hung up."
Magistrates were told that, the following day, Menderes posted a Facebook message, which was not sent directly to the victim but was intended to be seen by her. In it, he made reference to their children.
Menderes was arrested but claimed he thought the order, which is indefinite, had ended. Matthew Purves, defending, said that, before he rang the victim, Menderes had called the police to check if the non-molestation order had come to an end, which it had. The restraining order, however, had not.
Mr Purves added: "He accepts there has been a few breaches of the orders. He thought they had come to an end. It appears one had, but the other had not. He seems to have fallen foul of the rules as he's made an effort to try and find out when the orders had finished."
Magistrates gave Menderes a chance to prove he could stay away from his ex by giving him 12-month community and 100 hours of unpaid work. He must also pay £200 compensation, £85 costs and a £114 victim surcharge.
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